To Be With Her
by SarahShalomDavid
Summary: Andrea has been working hard all week to ensure that everything is ready for Miranda's departure that Friday so on Saturday morning she decides that she is taking the day to 'veg out' on the sofa and watch movies, that is, of course, until her quiet morning is interrupted by an unexpected knock at the door, well, multiple knocks.
1. To Be With Her

Andrea Sachs had been doing overtime at work for the past week in order to ensure that everything was ready for Miranda to leave Friday night so now that it was Saturday she had decided to spend the day in her pyjamas watching tv and that she would order pizza or Chinese food later that evening. She had not long been out of bed as she had opted to have a lay in that morning.

Only five minutes into the movie, she heard a knock at her door but as she was not expecting anyone she opted to ignore it and continue to watch her movie. Another knock sounded through her apartment which was then followed by another set of knocks which were much quicker and much louder than the original ones.

Andrea groaned, "I'm coming, I'm coming", she called out as she reluctantly got up from the sofa and pushed her blankets away from her.

The knocking has stopped after she called out to whoever was on the other side of the door.

She swung the door open, "Yes?", she said with annoyance before she realised who it was, "Oh…".

In front of her were two red-headed ten-year-olds, "Cassidy? Caroline?", she said softly as she stepped back so that both of the children could enter her apartment, "What are you doing here?".

The two girls stepped into the apartment and when the question was posed to them, they glanced at each other before Caroline answered, "We wanted to come and see you", she answered simply.

"I thought you were with your father whilst your mother is at the fashion show?", Andrea asked the two girls gently as she closed the door behind them.

"We were", Caroline said with a smile as they both moved into the living room, "But now we're here".

"And you have permission?", Andrea asked with curiosity.

Caroline nodded, "Yes", she replied simply.

"How did you get here?", the woman asked them.

"We took a cab", Caroline responded.

Andrea nodded, "Okay, have you eaten lunch?", she queried.

Both of the girls shook their heads, "No", Caroline stated.

"Okay", Andrea said softly, "Are you hungry?".

Both of them nodded in response to the question.

"How about toasted sandwiches?", Andrea asked them both before leading them to the kitchen.

"Yes, please", Caroline and Cassidy both responded at the same time with bright smiles on their faces.

Andrea smiled in return as she opened her fridge, "What would you like to drink?", she asked them both, "I have orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, milk, and water". "Or I have hot drinks if you'd rather have something warm? I have hot chocolate", she continued.

"Please, may I have some grape juice?", Cassidy asked with a smile.

"Apple juice please", Caroline responded.

Their mother's assistant nodded, "Okay", she said before pulling both items out of the fridge and grabbing two glasses from the cupboard. She quickly filled the two glasses with the chosen juices and put them on the counter in front of the girls. "How about you both sit up at the breakfast bar? I'll get the filling choices out of the fridge so that you can choose what you have in your sandwich".

Both girls were soon sat at the breakfast bar as they watched Andy pulling out a multitude of ingredients and putting them on the kitchen counter.

"Okay", Andrea said as she stepped closer to the counter after closing the fridge, "You can choose to put whatever you want into your sandwiches". Andrea pulled out some slices of bread and began to butter them as she spoke, "You can choose between chicken, cheese, or beef", she said softly, "Sorry I haven't been shopping but you can pick one or two or even all three if you'd like".

"I would like chicken with cheese, please?", Cassidy said with a bright smile.

"Same please", Caroline requested.

Andrea nodded putting buttered bread in front of them on individual chopping boards, "You can put however much of it in your sandwiches as you want and you can even put the sandwiches into the grill", she said as she set up the grill on the side for them.

Both of the girls were talking between themselves as they filled their sandwiches, "We've finished", Cassidy announced, she was quite excited to be able to make and cook their own sandwiches.

The woman smiled brightly at the two of them, "Okay", she said softly, "Caroline, Cassidy, bring your boards over to this side of the counter and then you can both put your sandwiches in the grill and then once it's closed they'll cook until the red light turns green".

The two girls took their boards carefully over to where Andrea was standing and they placed them on the side before following the instructions that they had been given and carefully placed their sandwiches into the grills.

It wasn't long before the sandwiches were both cooked and the twins were sat on the sofa with their chosen movie playing in the background, "Did your father tell you how long you were allowed to be here?", the woman asked Cassidy and Caroline.

The two girls paused in their eating with their sandwiches partially away from their mouths whilst they both glanced at each other, suddenly both looked very guilty.

Andrea sighed heavily, "You didn't have permission, did you?".

The two girls were looking down at their laps after having put their sandwiches down on their plates and both of them shook their heads, "No", Cassidy whispered.

"Why did you lie?", Andrea asked.

"We didn't want you to send us back", Caroline replied.

"Why don't you want to go back?", Andrea questioned with worry in her voice.

Caroline sighed, "Dad isn't interested in us anymore, he never is when he has a new girlfriend", she revealed, "I bet he doesn't even know that we left".

"What time did you leave?", Andrea asked, avoiding debating whether or not their idiot of a father had noticed their disappearance, "You've been here for over an hour and it takes about an hour to get here from your father's house so when did you leave there?".

"We left just after breakfast this morning", Caroline admitted, "So it was just before ten am".

She looked up at the clock when the child told her the time that they had left their father's house and she quickly realised that they had been gone from the house for over three hours. "You know I'm going to have to call him, right?", Andrea asked as she watched the two, rather quiet, girls.

Cassidy sighed, "You're sending us back, aren't you?".

"No", Andrea stated straight away.

The twins both looked confused, "But we lied", Caroline stated, "and Mom doesn't get back until next week".

"Then I will keep you until then if your mother allows it", Andrea said with a smile before hugging each of the girls in turn, "Finish off your sandwiches and rewind the movie to the part you got to before we started talking while I go and call your mother".

"Okay", each of the girls whispered guiltily before doing as they were told.

Andrea went into her bedroom and hit number one on speed dial then waited for the person on the other end to pick up, "Hello Miranda", she said straight away.

 _Miranda had stepped out of the room into the hallway, "Hello Andrea", she said instantly, if it was anyone else she would have snapped at them instantly, "I hope this is important"._

"I just called to let you know that I have Cassidy and Caroline here with me", Andrea stated.

 _The Editor-in-Chief looked confused, "Why? They are supposed to be with their father for the week"._

"They apparently left their father's without his permission and got a cab to my apartment", the assistant said calmly, "They've been here with me for a while but have only just admitted that they didn't have permission to come here. They left their father's house shortly before ten am this morning".

 _Miranda was silent as she listened to what her assistant was telling her._

"They're okay, they are both currently watching a movie and eating their lunch", Andy said softly, "I'm going to call their father to let him know where they are but I wanted to call you first especially as they don't believe that their father has even noticed that they're missing". "The main thing is that neither girls want to go back to his and they want to stay here with me", she revealed, "I told them that I would ask your permission".

 _The fashion queen closed her eyes briefly before speaking, "Is it okay if they stay with you? I can come home early and I'll be there by this evening", she said quietly, "Don't call their father, I will. I'll call him and pretend to want to speak to the girls then I'll see if my Bobbseys are right in their assumption that he hasn't noticed". "Once I've done that then I'll call you back to speak to my Bobbseys", she finished._

"They're fine to stay with me Miranda", Andrea said with a smile as she sat on her bed with her cell phone pressed up against her ear, "There isn't any need to come back early, I know how important this week is to you and the girls are fine here".

" _Are you certain?", Miranda questioned._

"Of course", Andrea said straight away, "I've rather enjoyed having them with me this morning".

 _Miranda found herself laughing, "But a week Andrea?", she questioned._

"A week sounds fun to me", Andrea admitted, "I'm sure we can have some fun".

" _Well if anyone can do it then it's you", Miranda almost whispered, "My impossible girl"._

Andrea's smile grew and her eyes brightened at what she heard Miranda say, "Yours, huh?", she questioned.

 _Miranda froze instantly and found herself stuttering after a moment's silence, "I… I… I didn't mean it"._

"Oh", Andrea said with a sigh, "Right… of course".

 _She found herself closing her eyes briefly as she heard the disappointment in the voice of her assistant, "That's not true", she admitted, "I just didn't mean for you to hear it, I'm sorry Andrea"._

"In the case, don't apologise Miranda", she said gently, "I like the sounds of being yours".

" _You do?", Miranda questioned with shock in the tone of her voice._

"Of course", she replied instantly.

" _Are you sure I shouldn't come home early?", Miranda questioned._

"The girls will be fine and we will be waiting for you when you get back", Andrea stated, "I'll even take them to the airport so that we can meet you when you get off of the plane".

" _That does sound like a good idea", Miranda commented, "Although I am finding myself wanting to leave, no matter how important these events are"._

"I know, trust me I know", Andrea said with a smile, "but my beautiful fashion queen must rule her kingdom".

 _Miranda could almost hear the smirk in her voice, despite not saying it out loud, she found herself liking the sound of being hers too._

"So, we will see you next week", Andrea said with a smile.

" _Yes", Miranda said in return, "I think that it would be best if you stayed with the girls at the townhouse in the meantime"._

"Yes Miranda", Andrea said simply, "I'll speak to the girls".

" _I'll call you back once I've spoken to their father"._

"Okay", Andrea said before the phone was cut off. She put the phone in her pocket and found herself grinning at the idea of being Miranda's.

A few moments later, Andrea rejoined the girls on the sofa, both of them looking up at her and appearing to be a little nervous as they waited for her to speak, "I've spoken to your mother", she stated.

"Is she letting us stay with you?", Caroline asked as both of the girls clutched each other's hands whilst awaiting the answer.

Andrea shook her head, "No, you won't be staying here with me", she said to them.

The two girls looked downwards and seemed very upset.

"But I will be staying at your mom's house with you", she said with a huge smile.

Cassidy and Caroline almost screeched with excitement when they heard what the woman had told them, "Really?", Cassidy questioned, "We get to stay with you at home while Mom's away?".

Andrea nodded, "Yes", she confirmed, "Your Mom will be calling your father now, and then she will call me back so that she can talk to you both".

"Thank you Andy", Cassidy and Caroline both said as they both embraced the woman.

For the remainder of the movie, Andrea was sat on the sofa with both of the girls in her lap and snuggled up with her.

 _Miranda called her ex-husband as soon as she had put the phone down to Andrea, the smile dropping from her face that Andrea had just put there, "Hello", she said as soon as he picked up the phone._

" _ **Hello Miranda", he greeted, "I didn't expect you to call, would you like to speak to the girls?".**_

 _Her eyebrows shot up into the air considering the fact that she knew that both of her precious girls were with her assistant at Andrea's apartment, "Please", she opted to say instead._

" _ **I'll just take the phone up to them, they've been playing in their room all morning", he stated, despite it not being true, not that he knew that of course.**_

 _Miranda remained quiet and listened very carefully to what was happening at the other end of the phone._

 _ **Greg knocked on the door, "Girls!", he called out before knocking again but getting no response from the empty room. He opened the door and looked confused at the empty room before moving to the next bedroom and repeating it but found nothing, "Sorry Miranda, they must be playing in another room".**_

 _She listened patiently as he checked the various rooms in the house._

" _ **Girls!", he called out, "Your mother is on the phone".**_

 _Miranda was glad that he had muffled the sounds of him shouting._

" _ **Miranda? I'll have to call you back, they're just playing hide and seek again", he lied.**_

" _Oh really?", she questioned, "Because I know for a fact that my children are currently at my assistant's house and have been for the past few hours"._

" _ **Oh", he simply replied.**_

" _When they said that you wouldn't notice that they weren't there, I didn't want to believe it", Miranda revealed, "However, these visits are of my choice considering that fact that I have full custody and now, unless the girls state otherwise, you will not be looking after them again"._

 _ **Greg tried to cut in, "But I…".**_

" _That's all", she stated before putting the phone down to him._

Caroline and Cassidy were choosing another movie for them to watch whilst Andrea got dressed ready for them to leave as well as throwing some clothing into a case so that she could stay at Miranda's townhouse until the woman returned.

Her phone rang and she scrambled to grab it, pulling a few items of clothing out of the way in order to find it on the bed, "Hello Miranda", she said as soon as she answered it.

" _Hello Andrea", Miranda replied._

"One moment, I'll take the phone out to Cassidy and Caroline", Andrea said with a smile.

 _Miranda smiled, "Wait", she said quickly, "I wanted to speak to you first"._

Andrea found herself smiling brightly and sitting back down on the bed, "Okay", she replied simply.

" _I spoke to Greg", Miranda stated, "I asked to speak to the girls and he was completely unaware that they were not in his care"._

"Oh", Andrea responded, "I was hoping that they'd be wrong about that… I… I don't understand how he could **not** know where they are". "How could he be so irresponsible?", Andrea said with annoyance and anger in her voice.

 _Miranda sighed, "I was hoping that they would be wrong too but… well, unfortunately, they were right and I have informed him that he will not be looking after my Bobbseys anytime in the future, that is, of course, unless they request it themselves", she said to Andrea, loving how protective Andrea sounded over her beloved daughters._

"Well, if you ever need someone to look after them then you know where I am", Andrea offered straight away, "I rather like spending time with them both".

" _Thank you Andrea", Miranda said with a smile whilst sat in her hotel suite as she had moved upstairs whilst on the phone earlier to Andrea, "I know that they enjoy spending time with you too. They do look forward to you bringing the book to the townhouse each night"._

"I look forward to it too", Andrea admitted, "It's why I've been getting the editing department to have the book ready by eight pm so that I can spend some time with both of them before they go to bed".

" _Well, I do hope that you'll join us for dinner when I return", Miranda offered, "and I am very glad that they have been abiding by the new eight pm rule as it will give us plenty of time to spend together after work too"._

Andrea smiled brightly, "That sounds really good", she said softly.

" _May I speak to the girls?", Miranda asked politely, much more polite than she had when she spoke to her ex-husband._

"Of course", Andrea said with a smile as she made her way out into the front room, "Caroline, Cassidy, your Mom is on the phone"

The twins both were looking at each other in a slightly nervous manner, "We're not in trouble, are we?", Cassidy whispered.

"No Cassidy", Andrea replied before whispering to them, "But your father is".

Cassidy giggled, as did Caroline at what the woman had whispered to them.

Andrea put the phone on loudspeaker before speaking again, "You're on loudspeaker Miranda and I'm just giving the phone to Cassidy and Caroline now", she said before looking at them, "Pause the movie and you can finish it after your phone call, I'm going to go and finish off in the bedroom".

"Hello Mom", the two girls both said at the same time after Caroline had paused the movie.

" _Hello Bobbseys", Miranda said to her children, "Are you behaving for Andrea?"._

Caroline nodded, "Yes", she stated, "Of course".

" _Promise me that you will behave for Andrea for the whole time that she is looking after you", Miranda requested._

"Yes Mom", both girls replied straight away.

" _I spoke with your father and you will be staying with Andrea at the townhouse until I return", Miranda stated._

"Woohoo!", both of the girls were shouting with happiness at the idea despite already being aware of the fact.

" _You do need, however, to tell me what happened today", their mother said softly._

"We had breakfast and Dad was distracted", Caroline stated, "He always is when he has a new girlfriend".

"We didn't want to stay there", Cassidy said to her mother, "It was so boring".

"We thought that Andy might let us stay with her", Caroline continued, "And we knew that she was the safest person to go to if we were going to leave Dad's house".

"He didn't even notice when we left", Cassidy admitted, "We just walked out of the front door… we didn't even need to sneak out of the window or anything like that".

 _Miranda listened carefully to every word that her daughters told her and remained silent, waiting until they were finished talking._

"We got a cab from Dad's house to Andy's using Dad's money", Caroline told her, "We knew Andy's address because she gave it to us a while ago along with her number".

"Just in case we got into trouble and needed help", Cassidy added, "She said that she would always be here for us no matter what and that we can always go to her, that's why she gave us her address, her email address, and her phone number".

"So we went to Andy's apartment to be with her instead and then when we got to Andy's apartment, she was in her pyjamas watching a movie", Caroline said.

"But she didn't send us away", Cassidy said with a smile, "She cared and she asked us if we had permission then she let us make toasted sandwiches".

"And juice", she added, "Then we got to watch a movie but then we told Andy that we didn't really have permission".

"But she wasn't angry at us", Cassidy said softly, "She was just worried and said that she would call you to see if she could keep us".

"Not keep us", Caroline said, "Just look after us until Mom gets back".

"I don't know", Andrea said with a smirk, "I might just decide to keep you".

Cassidy grinned, "Awesome!", she declared with excitement, "Does that mean we get to move in here or you move in with us?".

Caroline looked around, "I'm not sure Mom would like the decor here", she stated, "And also we wouldn't get a room each, there are only two bedrooms here so Andy will have to move in with us".

"Yay!", Cassidy shouted with excitement.

 _Miranda was laughing at the other end of the phone._

Andrea was looking at a little shocked, "I...erm… I'm not quite sure about that Cassidy".

"Why not?", Cassidy asked with a tilt of her head, "Do you not like our house?".

"Of course I like the house", Andrea replied quickly.

"Then what is it?", Caroline asked, "Is it, Mom?".

 _Miranda had stopped laughing._

Andrea knelt down in front of the girls, "Of course not Caroline", she said straight away, "I love your mother, I promise you that". "I just think that it's a little quick to move in, don't you think?", Andy questioned, "Also I think I would need your mother's permission".

"You love our Mom?", Cassidy asked her softly.

Andy opened her mouth and then closed it again before reopening it, clearly surprised at the question and shocked that she herself had already said it, "Yes", she said softly, "I do love your Mom".

" _And I love you too Andrea", Miranda replied, "My impossible girl"._

The girls were both grinning, rather happy with themselves and seemingly overjoyed at the idea that their two favourite people were in love with each other.

" _Oh and as for moving in?", Miranda said softly, "Andrea is already moving in for a week and although it may be too soon for her to move in on a permanent basis, I do hope that she will be staying over more often and that she will agree to go out on a date with me upon my return"._

Andrea smiled brightly, "That sounds like a great idea", she replied.

" _Of course it is", Miranda said with a smirk, "I said it"._

The three of them found themselves laughing straight away which in turn made Miranda smile.

" _I need to go as I have a dinner to attend tonight", Miranda said softly, "Are you sure you're okay with my Bobbseys for the week, Andrea?"._

"Yes Miranda", Andrea replied, "You'll be okay, won't you girls?".

The twins both grinned and nodded as they shouted their agreement with pure excitement.

" _In that case, I will see you when I return next week", Miranda replied._

"We'll meet you at the airport", Andrea reminded her with a smile.

"We get to go to the airport?", Cassidy asked with wide eyes.

"Of course", Andrea replied, "Your Mom has been away all week, I thought that it would be nice to meet her at the airport".

"We never get to do that", Cassidy highlighted.

"That's because Dad never takes us", Caroline pointed out, "Andy loves us and Mom more than he does so she's taking us because she knows that it's what we want and it's what Mom wants".

Andrea simply kissed the tops of the girls' heads, "Say goodbye to your mother and you can call her before you go to bed later to say goodnight", she said softly, "We'll go shopping on the way to the townhouse and you can choose the ingredients for us to make whatever you want for dinner", she knew that there were not any perishable foods at the townhouse because there had been no plans for anyone to be there.

"Goodbye, Mom!", both of the girls said at the same time.

" _I'll speak to you both later Bobbseys", Miranda said with a smile, "I love you"._

"I love you too Mom", both of the girls shouted out with happiness.

" _And Andrea?", Miranda said softly._

"Yes Miranda", Andy responded instantly.

" _Thank you for taking care of my girls for me", she said gratefully, "And thank you for offering to bring them to the airport to meet me, you don't know how much that means to me"._

"Anytime Miranda", Andy said genuinely.

 _Miranda smiled, "I love you Andrea", she said quietly._

"I love you too Miranda", Andrea responded with a bright smile.

 _Miranda, for once, hated her job as she wanted to leave so that she could go to spend time with both of her children as well as the woman she loved._

Andrea found herself even more excited for the return of her boss that she had been previously.

It was not long before they put the phone down and were getting ready to leave to go back to the townhouse where Andy would stay with them until Miranda's return, not that she returned home straight away as she stayed the night with Miranda when she returned.


	2. To The Townhouse

Andrea had packed herself a bag in preparation for staying at Miranda's townhouse for the week, her clothing was packed in a black designer suitcase that was a little bigger than the average carry-on case that is used for flights. She was unsure as to what she would need for the week but ensured that she had the basics that she needed along with some clothing that was casual so that she could take the twins out to places on day trips and an outfit specifically for meeting Miranda at the airport in the arrival's lounge.

The woman put the case by the door and then moved to her kitchen in order to grab anything that might go off during the time that she was away from her apartment as well as anything that she thought that the girls might like such as the jar of Nutella, the big bag of camp-style marshmallows, a bag of candy, and a big Dairy Milk chocolate bar.

She then went and grabbed the glasses that were on the coffee table so that she could refill them before putting them back.

"Thank you, Andy", Cassidy and Caroline both said at almost the exact same time.

Andrea smiled softly, "No problem", she replied, "Once the movie is over, which I believe it will be in ten minutes, we will go to the townhouse but we will have a couple of stops on the way".

"Ooooh, where?", Cassidy questioned.

"You'll see", the woman responded, "It's a surprise but a good one... well a good two... or three if you behave".

"Oh we will", the two girls said with huge smiles as they continued to watch the movie, they were both rather looking forward to spending time with their mother's assistant for the entire week that their mother would be away and found themselves rather glad that they had made the decision to leave their father's house, even if it had been without permission and containing some risks along the way.

Once the movie was finished, Caroline jumped up to turn off the television before they each returned their glasses to the kitchen where Andrea had already washed up the plates. Andrea took the glasses from them so that she could clean them and leave them on the side for them to dry whilst telling Caroline and Cassidy that they had to put their shoes and coats on so that they could go.

The redheaded girls were both rather excited and were bouncing slightly as they left the apartment and went down in the elevator so they could leave the building.

"Where are we going first?", Caroline asked with a smile as she looked up at the dark-haired woman.

"Nice try", their mother's assistant replied with a slight smirk.

Caroline shrugged, "Well, it was worth a try", she said with a slight sigh.

Cassidy took hold of Andrea's hand as they walked along towards the subway before Caroline did the same with the other hand. The gesture made the woman smile brightly, she loved to spend time with the two girls and she had bonded rather well with them over the time that she had been working for their mother.

"We're going on the subway?", Cassidy asked Andrea with wide eyes, "Is this our surprise?".

"We've never been on the subway before", Caroline pointed out as they both looked around at their environment.

Andrea could not help but chuckle a little and shake her head, "No girls", she said with a smile of amusement, "It isn't but if you want we can count this as surprise number one before we go to surprise number two, three, and possibly four?".

Caroline nodded, she appeared to be analysing her environment in much the same way as her mother normally would at an event.

After purchasing the tickets and going through the turnstiles, the three of them did not have to wait for very long before they were boarding the train. There were, however, not many seats so Andrea insisted that the girls both take the two seats whilst she stood up next to them and held on to the pole.

Instead, Cassidy remained standing, "Sit down and I'll sit in your lap".

Andrea agreed, mostly because she wanted the child to sit down before the train started to move so that she would not be injured by falling when it did.

Cassidy sat quite happily in Andrea's lap as the woman wrapped her arms around the little girl. Caroline watched them for a moment before leaning her head on Andrea's arm, "Will we have to get on the subway again today? To go to the next surprise?".

"Yes, we will", Andrea replied simply as she wrapped an arm around her and held her close, "Why?".

"I...", Caroline paused, "Can I sit on your lap next time?".

Andrea nodded, "Of course you can".

"Your daughters are adorable", an elderly lady opposite them said with a kind smile.

"Thank you", the dark-haired woman replied simply with a smile as the train pulled into the station and she encouraged Cassidy to stand up.

Once the three of them were safely on the platform and away from the female stranger, Caroline looked up at Andrea with curiosity, "Why didn't you tell her that we aren't your daughters?", she questioned as they walked towards the exit of the subway station.

"Well", Andrea began, "First of all, I didn't think it was anyone else's business and second of all, I don't mind people thinking that you are".

"How comes?", the girl asked softly.

"Because I love you both", she said gently as she bent down on the side of the pavement outside of the station, "And I would be proud to call you my daughters and I am honoured that she thought you were".

Caroline and Cassidy looked at each other before grinning in Andrea's direction, "Okay", Caroline said happily as they both started to walk again after retaking the woman's hands in theirs.

"How long do we have to walk for?", Cassidy asked after a few minutes.

"Not long", Andrea replied and in less than a minute she declared that they were there.

The two girls grinned as Cassidy smiled, "Our surprise is the park?".

Andrea smiled at the excitement of the two young girls, glad that her idea was correct, "I thought that you might like to spend an hour in the park and do you know what the second surprise is?", she asked as they entered the park.

Both of them shook their heads to confirm that they did not know what it was.

"Look around you and I am sure that you can work it out", Andrea replied with a smile whilst still holding onto each of the girls' hands.

Caroline was the first one to spot it, "Ice-cream!", she exclaimed which triggered the excitement of her twin as well.

"Yes", Andrea said with a smile, "How about you go and play for a while and then you can have ice-cream?". "Then once you've had your ice-creams then you can play for a little while longer if you'd like or we can go straight to your next surprise on the way back to the townhouse".

The two of them were looking at each other attempting to decide.

"You don't have to decide now", Andrea said with a smile, "Why don't you go and play?".

"Okay Andy", Caroline said with a smile.

"Don't go outside of the park gates, okay?", Andrea said softly.

"We won't!", the girls called out as they both ran off towards the climbing frame.

Andrea smiled as she watched them as she thought of how much they resembled monkeys during that moment. She genuinely loved to spend time with both Caroline and Cassidy. It had started shortly after the incident that involved them sending Andrea up the stairs and straight into Miranda's argument with Stephen.

When Andrea had next delivered the book whilst they had been there she had spoken to both of the girls and asked them why they had done that but their answer made her forgive them straight away because rather than them simply trying to cause trouble or trying to get her fired, in reality, they simply wanted Stephen to stop yelling at their mother. The ageing man scared them when he yelled and they were trying to protect their mother in the only way that they knew how and that was to send their mother's assistant in as a sacrifice. Andrea had, however, agreed that they had done the right thing because although it risked her being fired it also meant that it was something that would benefit Miranda and the girls.

Then it became increasingly common for them to talk to the assistant when she arrived at the house to deliver the book and they thought that she was brilliant when she admitted that she too had a copy of the Harry Potter book that she had struggled to obtain for them on the orders of their mother. That then led to them reading together in the entrance hall at times as well as simply discussing the book. On one particular night, Caroline and Cassidy had waited up for her whilst their mother was at a dinner party and requested that she go upstairs with them so that she could read to them. Despite being nervous about the idea of climbing those stairs again, she had nodded and agreed because, after all, the two young girls simply wanted a bedtime story. It also helped that the girls had confirmed that Stephen was not, in fact, in the house at the time.

Their contact then extended from simply talking to each other when Andrea delivered the book to both of them texting the woman, even whilst she was working. Although, Miranda had only questioned Andrea once about her buzzing cell phone and once she had been informed that it was, in fact, Caroline and Cassidy that were texting her assistant, she then did not question it any further.

She did not, however, stop the contact but allowed it to continue and at times she even encouraged it. Miranda even went as far as allowing the two of them to invite Andrea along to various school events as well as other activities.

Originally Andrea had been ordered to do their homework for them but following the obtainment of Harry Potter, her relationship with the girls changed enough that she no longer did their homework for them but instead she sat at the kitchen table with them and helped them with their assignments.

Andrea ensured that she knew what the assignments were before they were handed out by speaking with their teachers and that gave her the chance to research the topic fully, even when she already knew a lot about it so that she could help them to the best of her ability. It also meant that she could find more interesting ways for Caroline and Cassidy to learn about the subject that they were learning at the time. This included various things such as; visiting an art gallery, taking them to a museum, helping them to make a 'working' volcano, and encouraging them to watch certain films.

Just over twenty minutes after arriving at the park, both of the girls ran over to them with huge smiles on their faces, "Please can we have ice-cream now?", Cassidy asked at the same time as Caroline did.

The young woman smiled at them both and nodded, "Of course", she replied as she stood up from the bench and walked with them to the ice-cream van.

Once all three of them had ordered their ice-creams, they returned to the bench where Andrea had been sat with their belongings. "Thank you", the two girls both said to the woman quite happily, so many thought that they were little devils when, in actual fact, for the majority of the time they were total sweethearts or at least they were with Andy. Emily was a completely different story but, then again, how were they supposed to respond when she acted so negatively towards them all the time?

When the ice-creams had been consumed, Andrea handed them both wipes from her bag so that they could wipe the ice-cream from their faces although it appeared that Cassidy had a lot more around her mouth than what her sister did.

"Would you like to continue playing for a while or would you like to go back to the townhouse?", Andrea asked, "We can get your fourth surprise on the way there after we've been on the second subway ride, which will be the last for today".

Caroline and Cassidy looked at each other for a moment before turning to look at their mother's assistant instead, "We would like to go home", Caroline answered for them both.

Andrea was glad that she had used an app on her phone in order to order enough shopping for the week so that they could bake and cook whilst she was staying with them. "What would you like to order in for dinner tonight?", she asked them both, "The shopping will arrive tomorrow morning so we will order take out tonight".

"Pizza!", the two of them shouted with excitement as their mother did not favour that particular take out so it was rare that they were able to have it.

"Okay", Andrea said with a smile, "Pizza it is then".

Both cheered with excitement at the fact that the woman had agreed with what they had wanted for dinner, although truth be told, they knew that she most likely would because they knew that she was also rather fond of pizza and had even encouraged their mother to order pizza from her favourite pizzeria before.

The two girls had been rather surprised at the fact that Andrea had been able to convince their mother to order it for dinner, however, they had quickly realised that Andrea had more power than she herself seemed to realise. Now, however, the two of them, despite being only ten-years-old realised exactly why it was that Andrea was allowed to get away with a lot more than any other assistant as well as be allowed to take part in family activities and interact with them and in addition to that have enough power that Miranda often let her choose what they were doing or what they were to have for dinner.

When they once again made their way to the subway station and got on the train that they needed in order to make their way towards where the townhouse was located, Caroline instantly climbed into Andrea's lap and snuggled back into her. It did not matter that the train was not as full as the last one and that there were enough seats for them all. It did not matter to Caroline and it did not matter to Andrea either. Andrea, in fact, rather liked the fact that Caroline still wanted to sit on her lap so she wrapped her arm around the young girl before wrapping her other one around Cassidy in much the same way as she had done on the first subway ride, however, with their positioning just switched around.

The girls continued to behave throughout the journey on the subway and when they got off of the subway they began to walk towards the townhouse.

Cassidy and Caroline were both looking around them as they attempted to work out where it was that they were going for their last surprise as they knew that they were not going to get the answer from their mother's assistant no matter how much they asked the woman.

It was not for a few minutes after leaving the subway station that they realised where they were going, or at least Cassidy did, "Starbucks?!", she exclaimed.

Andrea nodded, "I know how much you love it and I know that you aren't allowed it very often so I thought that you might like to choose a drink for a treat and also I thought you might want to choose one of their muffins or another sweet thing for your dessert later".

The two of them smiled brightly as they continued to hold the woman's hand as they walked along the street towards the entrance of the store. It was not often that they were allowed to have any drinks from Starbucks but instead, they usually witnessed assistants bringing drinks from there to their mother.

Up until Andrea, no assistant brought any drink to the girls unless it was requested and it never was. It was still rare that they got a drink from there though because usually, the orders went to the office so they did not get one. Andrea never bought them anything with caffeine in but instead opted for their other options. To them, it was as if they were being treated as adults and despite still being children they rather liked the idea of being treated as 'big girls'. To Miranda, it showed that Andrea cared about her girls and it also showed that she thought of them because she had never seen any other assistant go out of their way for either Caroline or Cassidy unless it was requested of them, whereas, Andrea volunteered her time and effort to benefit the children without any prompting from anyone. It meant a lot to Miranda even if she did not always show it in a more obvious manner.

It did not take them long to order their drinks and desserts, collect them, and then make their way back to the townhouse. Both of them had thanked Andrea rather happily, clearly, they were both happy with how the day had gone but then again, if she were to admit it, Andrea was also glad about the outcome of the day, even if her initial intentions had been to 'veg out' on the sofa and watch movies all day.

The evening went just as well as the rest of the day had gone, well minus the leaving their father's house without permission and catching a taxi cab across New York, they had had their pizza for dinner before eating dessert.

Once the two of them were in their pyjamas and ready for bed, Andrea picked up her cell phone and called Miranda, knowing that her dinner party would most likely be over by now.

" _Hello, Andrea", Miranda said as soon as she picked up her cell phone after first checking the caller ID. She had left the party early in order to be back in her hotel suite in time for the phone call that she knew would come from the twins before they went to bed. That was another difference that she rather liked as bedtime calls were something that she rarely ever got when they stayed with their father because the man consistently seemed to tell them that she was busy, even when, in reality, Miranda would do whatever she could to ensure that she had the time to spend with her two daughters._

Andrea smiled brightly, "Hello, Miranda", she replied with a smile, "Are you able to talk? The girls want to say goodnight".

" _I am currently in my hotel suite", Miranda replied, "I thought that it would be best to leave in plenty of time so that I could speak to you and the girls before they went to bed"._

"I'll put you on loudspeaker so that you can talk to them", she said with a smile in the girls' direction.

" _Thank you, Andrea", the Editor-in-Chief responded, "For everything… for taking care of my girls, for calling me tonight, and for volunteering to bring them to the airport upon my return"._

"Anytime", Andrea said instantly, and it was true that she genuinely meant it because she would do anything for the three of them, "I'm putting you on loudspeaker now".

"Hi Mom!", Caroline and Cassidy almost yelled with excitement as soon as the phone was given to them.

" _Hello Bobbseys", their mother said softly, "Have you been behaving for Andrea?"._

"Yes", came the answer from the two of them at the same time with a slight sigh.

" _How about you tell me about your day?", Miranda asked softly as she sat down on her bed and curled her feet beneath her in a comfortable way._

"First we finished the movie", Cassidy said happily, "We watched Book of Life".

"Then Andy took us on the subway", Caroline continued their story of the day, "She said it wasn't our surprise but that we could count it as one if we wanted to".

"Because she said we had three surprises, well two and then three if we really behaved ourselves", Cassidy said as she held the phone between them both.

"The real surprise was that we were going to the park", Caroline pointed out.

Cassidy jumped in, "But on the subway an old lady said that we are both adorable and she thought that we were Andy's daughters, she didn't correct her though".

"That's because Andy said that she didn't think that it was anyone else's business and that she loves us so she doesn't mind if people think that", Caroline highlighted.

 _Miranda simply listened to what her girls were telling her and did not interrupt other than to make slight sounds that ensured that they knew that she was listening to them._

"When we were at the park we got to play on everything and then Andy got us ice-cream", Cassidy continued rather happily.

 _The Editor-in-Chief could tell by their voices alone that they were happy and taken care of, not that she did not already know that they would be with Andrea there. She now admitted to herself that she had been in denial about her ex-husband and been trying to convince herself that he did care enough to want to spend time with them but this recent incident had thrown ice-cold water over that idea as she realised how much of a parent Andrea was compared to the man who helped to create the two beautiful little girls._

"After the park we went on the subway again", Caroline said into the phone, "I got to sit on Andrea's lap the second time because Cassidy sat on her lap the first time".

"Then when we got to go to Starbucks", Cassidy revealed, "We got our favourite drinks and we were allowed to choose dessert from there too".

"When we got home, we played some games with Andy", Caroline said happily, "Then she ordered pizza".

"Yeah, because there's no food here", Cassidy said a little dramatically.

"But don't worry", Caroline jumped in, "We won't starve because Andy ordered shopping on her phone and it will get here tomorrow".

"After dinner, we watched a movie and ate our dessert", Cassidy continued, "Then we got ready for bed".

"And now we're talking to you", Caroline finished eventually.

" _Well, Bobbseys, that sounds like a brilliant day", Miranda said as she held the phone to her ear and relaxed back against the pillows that she had piled up behind her, "I only wish I could be there with you to enjoy it"._

"That's okay Mom", Cassidy said with a bright smile, "It just means that we can have a do-over day".

"Yeah!", Caroline agreed, "We can do it all over again when you get back".

" _That sounds like a good idea, however, you shall have to skip the taxi cab ride", Miranda pointed out with a slight smirk on her face._

"I think we can deal with that", Caroline stated with a nod of her head considering the fact that neither of them wished to go to their father's house anyway.

" _Good", Miranda replied calmly, she was glad that they had managed to get to Andrea's apartment safely and that they were now in the care of the one person that she trusted with her children. She had trusted her ex-husband but that had recently changed and Andrea was the sole person in the world that she trusted 100% with the two of them. Her two treasures. "Now, I think it is time for you to go to bed and get some rest", Miranda said in the usual motherly tone that she used solely for the two children, "I will be home soon Bobbseys"._

"Okay", the two of them replied.

"Goodnight Mom", Cassidy said happily.

"Night Mom", Caroline said at almost the same time as her sister spoke.

" _I love you Bobbseys", the white-haired woman said softly._

"Love you too Mom", both of them replied instantly with enthusiasm.

" _And Andrea?", Miranda said with a smile, "I love you as well"._

Andrea grinned, "I love you too, Miranda".

The twins were both grinning happily at the exchange between the two women, clearly accepting of the concept and rather happy to accept the change in the relationship even if that change had happened whilst the two women were apart from each other.

Once they had come off of the phone, Andrea's phone pinged with a text message and when she looked down at the phone it read ' _Call me back when Caroline and Cassidy are in bed'._ The woman simply smiled at the phone.

"That was Mom, wasn't it?", Caroline asked her with a slight tilt of her head whilst both of the children were tucked up in their mother's bed. Andrea had suggested that they sleep in there if they wanted to as she knew that they would miss their mother and the best way to help them with that would be for them to be surrounded with the familiar scent that their mother's bedroom would provide them with.

Andrea nodded with a bright smile, "Yes, it was".

"You love her a lot, don't you?", the young girl questioned.

Nodding, Andrea replied, "So much that I don't even think there's a word for it", she said with a bright smile, "And I love you as well", she said pressing a gentle kiss to Caroline's forehead, "and you", she said before repeating the gesture with Cassidy.

"We love you too", Caroline said instantly before hugging the woman, tugging her down onto the bed a little more.

"Lots and lots", Cassidy added happily before joining in on the hug.


	3. Pyjama Day

Andrea awoke to the movement of her duvet and a slighter movement of the mattress that she was lying on top of. As she opened her eyes, she noticed that there was a slight slither of light that had managed to sneak into the room through the gap in the curtains. The light was just enough in the room that it allowed her to see what had woken her from her slumber.

Caroline had climbed in on her left side, snuggling into her, whilst Cassidy had climbed in on her right side. Andrea found herself smiling as she wrapped her arms around both of the twin girls and pulled them both closer to her. There was only one thing that could possibly make it any better, or to be more precise, one other person that would make it much more perfect. She knew, however, that it would not be that long before Miranda returned, and that fact made her smile even more than she already was.

"Good Morning, Andy," Caroline said with a huge grin as she was looking up towards Andrea, curled up to her side with her head on the woman's shoulder.

"Shhhh Caro, she's asleep," Cassidy whispered, although not that quietly.

Caroline rolled her eyes, "No, she's not… she's grinning and she's peeking at us".

Cassidy leaned up and moved so that she was really close to the woman's face, so close in fact that they were literally nose to nose.

The child's breath tickled Andrea and so she started to laugh.

"Told you so," Caroline stated with an amused smile.

Andrea opened her eyes fully and grinned happily as she captured Cassidy in her arms in order to tickle the young girl.

Cassidy was screeching with laughter as she squirmed around on the bed to try and avoid being tickled.

Caroline seemed to be amused by their antics, however, her laughter soon joined her twin sister's when Andrea opted to tickle attack her too. Neither of the girls was safe that morning from the 'tickle monster' but neither seemed to be trying very hard to escape either. The two of them were loving the attention of the woman, as they always did, although waking up with her in their home had an added appeal to them. They had already decided that they wanted Andrea to stay over at the townhouse more often.

"What are we doing today?" Caroline asked softly after they'd had a rather entertaining tickle fight game for a while.

"I thought that we could have a pyjama day at home for the day," Andrea answered with a smile, "We can have pancakes for breakfast then we can play some games or watch some movies or make things for a while, whatever you want. The food delivery will be here in about an hour so then we will have everything that we need to bake some cookies and dinner too".

"We really get to wear our pyjamas all day?" Cassidy questioned with excitement in her voice.

"Yep," Andrea replied, putting a slight 'pop' on the last letter of the word when she said it.

"So we don't have to get dressed at all?" Caroline asked her.

"You can stay in your pyjamas all day," Andrea repeated, "You can choose whatever pyjamas you want to wear or you can wear the ones you're already in".

"So, we can wear these?" Cassidy asked her with a grin, "They're my favourite".

The pyjamas that the child was talking about were lime green with white mermaid scale patterning on the legs and her name in white on the top. The white print was all laced with glitter to in order to make it sparkle that little bit more. Andrea had bought each of the girls a set each for their last birthday. Caroline's were the same but in purple and with her name on instead. Both of the children had opted to wear the pyjamas that Andrea had purchased for them. The fact that the girls were clearly so keen on the pyjamas put a smile on the woman's face, "Of course you can," she said softly before she pressed a soft kiss to each of the children's faces.

"Let's go downstairs and make a start on breakfast," Andrea declared as she started to sit up a little more in bed, still with the girls curled up to each of her sides.

Cassidy and Caroline, despite their love of pancakes were actually rather reluctant to get out of the bed and out of Andrea's arms. When Andrea had first met the two children, she had never considered them being such snuggle bugs, but they were.

When Andrea finally got them downstairs, each individually wrapped in their dressing gowns  
(Cassidy and Caroline were both wearing the fluffy ones that matched their pyjamas whilst Andrea, however, was wearing Miranda's soft robe that still held the scent of the Editor-in-Chief's perfume in the fabric), the woman set about making their pancakes for breakfast. Whilst the pan was heating up, she was pulling out the very few toppings that were already in the cupboard, unfortunately, that meant they were unable to have any fresh fruit as their grocery delivery was yet to arrive.

Caroline got the plates out of the cupboard and carefully put them out on the breakfast bar ready whilst Cassidy got them each a glass of long life fruit juice that was in the kitchen pantry.

It did not take Andrea long before she was setting pancakes on to the plates ready for each of them to start decorating them with their own choice of toppings. They had a range of dessert sauces, honeys, sprinkles, chocolate additions, as well as other cake and dessert toppings.

Cassidy opted for chocolate curls, unicorn sprinkles, and a white chocolate dessert sauce being poured liberally over the top of it all.

Caroline chose chocolate curls, coconut shavings, and a milk chocolate dessert sauce along with a little drizzle of the white chocolate dessert sauce that her sister had used on her breakfast.

Meanwhile, Andrea opted for a sprinkle of chocolate curls along with a drizzle of each of the dessert sauces that the children had chosen.

Later that night, once the children were settled into Miranda's bed in a fresh set of pyjamas (despite protests to wear the chocolate tainted pyjamas that Andrea had bought for them), Miranda called at precisely the time that she had told them that she would via the texts that she had been sending throughout the day.

"Hi Mom!" called the girls with excitement as they saw their mother's face on the screen.

"Hello Bobbsies," Miranda responded with a loving smile, "Hello Andrea", she added despite not being able to see her.

"Hey," Andrea said as she popped her head into the screen to see her.

Miranda's eyes were sparkling as she set them on the other woman and she could not help but smile at the sight of her before she asked the girls about their day.

"We came in and climbed in with Andy when we woke up," Cassidy revealed.

"I hope you didn't wake her too early," Miranda said softly, knowing how early they could sometimes wake.

"It wasn't too early," Andrea quickly added in, despite it being earlier than she would have liked to have woken up.

"That's good," Miranda replied with a smile before asking, "And then what did you do?".

"Andy said we could have a pyjama day today," Caroline answered with a huge smile, "We didn't wear these pyjamas, we wore the ones that Andy got us for our birthdays".

"We got to wear them all day!" Cassidy added happily.

"Then for breakfast we had pancakes," Caroline said cheerfully.

"That sounds delicious," Miranda responded when she had been given a full run-down of the exact toppings each of them on their pancakes as well as how many pancakes they ended up eating each.

"After breakfast, the food delivery came and we helped Andy put it all away," Caroline told her.

"I hope you used my card to pay, Andrea," Miranda said softly.

"I did," Andy replied with a nod as she knew that Miranda would insist and also she knew that she didn't really have a lot on her own card until payday came.

"Good," Miranda said with a small smile before continuing finding out what else they did for the day.

"Then we got to choose a movie each," Cassidy revealed, "I chose the new Mary Poppins movie, Caro chose Annie, the latest one not the old one, and then Andy chose the Lorax".

"We did arts and crafts too," Caroline added, "Andy had all these different ideas that we could do all pinned on a special board just for us on her Pinterest account and she named it 'Baby Dragons' too". When she revealed the name, both girls started laughing and Miranda found herself smiling at the name and the laughter of her daughters.

"That sounds great," Miranda replied once she had heard all of the different crafts and experiments that the girls had been able to take part in that day, "I can't wait to come home so that you can show me everything that you've done today".

"We had a bath too and Andy helped us to wash our hair before we got into a new set of pyjamas," Caroline said softly.

"Even though we wanted to wear our unicorn pyjamas," Cassidy added with a pout.

"We couldn't, if we wore those we had to sleep in our own beds instead because Andy said we were too messy to be in here," Caroline replied with a slight eye roll that reminded Andy of Miranda.

"If you're in my bed, where is Andrea to sleep?" Miranda questioned, "I do hope that you haven't pushed her out to one of the guest rooms".

"She's staying in here too, she's sleeping in the middle," Caroline explained.

Miranda smiled softly, wishing even more to be home and to be in the midst of that with her girls.


End file.
